- Nation
- Wales
- National planning policy
- Planning Policy Wales
- Planning authorities
- 2
- City
- Swansea
Before you start in West Glamorgan
A combined site in West Glamorgan brings some extra checks that a single garden doesn’t. With more land and more homes, the scheme has to show how it meets the Welsh requirement to deliver a net benefit for biodiversity, and drainage needs planning across the whole site, which in practice means approval from the SuDS Approval Body (SAB) before building starts. Trees along old garden boundaries are common, and any protected by a Tree Preservation Order need consent before work. These checks are easier to plan for once, across one site, than garden by garden.
Planning authorities covering West Glamorgan include City and County of Swansea, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council.
How it works
Free appraisal of the combined land
We look at all the titles together, the possible access points, the surrounding homes and the planning policies that apply, then explain whether a combined scheme looks realistic and roughly what it might allow.
Meet the neighbours
We meet the owners together or separately, explain how the scheme and the routes work, and answer questions. We don’t approach your neighbours without your agreement, and nobody is committed at this stage.
Agree how value is shared
Heads of terms set out the route, each owner’s share, any extra for the garden providing the access, what happens if someone drops out, and the cap on each owner’s reasonable legal fees where it applies.
Collaboration agreement
Each owner’s own solicitor reviews the documents, and everyone signs a collaboration agreement alongside the sale, option or promotion agreement. Mortgage lenders are asked to consent early, and the agreements are usually protected on each title.
One planning application
We prepare and submit a single application for the whole site, with one shared access and a layout designed around all the existing homes. The council decides it, and nobody can promise the result.
Completion and shares paid
When the site is sold with planning, or bought by us as agreed, each owner transfers their part, and the proceeds are divided through the solicitors exactly as the collaboration agreement sets out.
Combine neighbours’ gardens in towns across West Glamorgan
Questions about combine neighbours’ gardens in West Glamorgan
What legal checks apply to combined gardens in West Glamorgan?
Every title is checked for mortgages, restrictive covenants and rights of way, and each lender must agree to release the land it holds as security. Each owner has their own solicitor, and the agreements are usually protected on each title.
Is a shared access road allowed on garden schemes in West Glamorgan?
Shared access roads are common on backland schemes, but each council judges width, visibility and the effect on neighbours. The scheme must also allow for sprinklers, which every new home in Wales must have, and bins have to be collected within a sensible distance. We check access first at every appraisal.
Which councils decide combined garden schemes in West Glamorgan?
The local planning authority for the address decides, and the authorities serving West Glamorgan include City and County of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Each applies Planning Policy Wales (PPW) with its own LDP. A combined site goes in as one application to whichever council covers the land.
How much is a garden plot in West Glamorgan worth?
It depends on location, size, access, title and, above all, planning. Two similar gardens in the same street can be worth very different amounts if one has easy access and the other doesn’t. We don’t quote figures before we’ve looked at a plot properly; the free appraisal is the way to find out.